Cervical collars are used in the treatment, stabilization, immobilization, and therapy of cervical trauma. Some collars are intended to provide support for whiplash and other such injuries where support for the head and neck is needed. Other collars are intended for near complete immobilization of the head and neck, such as in an EMS pre-hospital setting.
There is often a rush to apply these collars onto the wearer due to the acute nature of cervical injuries. The collar must be selected to accommodate the wearer's size in a quick manner for effective stabilization and immobilization of the neck of the wearer.
Known cervical collars restrict spine flexion, extension and rotation to promote wearer recovery. Such known collars also include a trachea opening allowing for healthcare clinicians the ability to perform quick carotid pulse monitoring and emergency tracheotomies while providing cervical immobilization.
A drawback to known collars is that they are individually sized for a variety of standard wearer sizes. There is a need to store many different sized collars in inventory which significantly adds to the cost for using such collars. If there is an emergency, and the proper sized collar is not available, the caregiver is given little option other than to apply a poorly fitting collar on the wearer since many known collars provide minimal size adjustment.
Proper sizing is critical for wearer immobilization and comfort. While there are a variety of different standard sizes, the wearer may have dimensions which fall outside of the standard sizes, and wear a poorly fitting collar that insufficiently immobilizes the wearer's neck. Such poor fitting may also cause significant discomfort to the wearer.
Over time, swelling of the wearer's neck may reduce which further complicates the sizing of the collar. This may lead to the need for disposing the initially selected collar and replacing it with a new collar. This may lead to waste and an increase in cost.
When sizing a cervical collar, the first notable dimension concerns the height. The height is measured by the vertical distance from the tip of the chin to the sternum; the other key dimension concerns the circumference of the wearer's neck.
Besides sizing, proper application of the collar is necessary for immobilization and wearer comfort. A typical collar includes of front and rear components packaged as a set according to the size of the wearer.
When applying a collar to the wearer, the rear component of the collar applies to the back of the wearer's neck. Once the back wearer is positioned appropriately, the front component of the collar is positioned against the front or anterior portion of the neck so a chin support is placed against the chin. The front component is centered to secure neutral alignment. The front component overlaps the rear component to ensure effective immobilization and comfort. Straps are then tightened to the collar with a bilateral adjustment which secures the wearer's cervical region in neutral alignment.
An issue with known collars is that the collars typically only provide support under the mid-front of the chin, and lack support under the mandible (lower jaw or jaw bone). From this, there is often undue pressure exerted on the chin of the wearer, which may cause discomfort and sores.
Another issue with known collars having frontal or anterior sternum footplates is that the footplate has a tendency to be positioned closer to the neck than the chin part of the collar, the footplate is too flexible, and the collar can be easily yet detrimentally fitted too tight resulting in the sternum pad to sit on a clavicle.
Yet another issue with known collars is that such collar with an adjustable sternum footplate is that existing locking system were insufficiently strong to prevent buttons or locks from unlocking.